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Refraction of Light
• What is Refraction?
• What is Optical Density?
• The Laws of Refraction
• The Refractive index
• Angle of Incidence / Refraction
• Total Internal Reflection
• What is Refraction?
• What is Optical Density?
• The Laws of Refraction
• The Refractive index
• Angle of Incidence / Refraction
• Total Internal Reflection
Refraction is the change in direction of light when it passes from one medium to another.
If light ray enters another medium perpendicular to boundary, the ray does not bend.
When the light ray travels from air to water, the refracted ray bends towards the normal .
i
r
air
water
Incident ray
Refracted ray
normal
i – angle of incidence
r– angle of refraction
When the light ray travels from water to air, the refracted ray bends away f rom the normal .
i
rair
water
Incident ray
Refracted ray
normal
i – angle of incidence
r– angle of refraction
During refraction, light bends first on passing
from air to glass and again on passing from
the glass to the air.
When light ray passes through a parallel-sided
block of glass it bends twice and returns to its
original direction, although slightly shifted
to one side.
Incident and emergent rays are always parallel.
i
r
Incident ray
Emergent ray
Refracted ray
Reflected rayair
air
glass
Light slows down when it enters an optically denser medium. The refracted ray bends towards the normal when the second medium is optically more dense than the first.
i
r
air
water
Incident ray
Refracted ray
normal
Light speeds up when it enters an optically less dense medium. The refracted ray bends away from the normal when the second medium is optically less dense than the first.
air
water i
r
Incident ray
Refracted ray
normal
Among the 3 transparent mediums (air, water and glass), glass has the highest optical density.
air
water
i1
r1
Incident ray
Refracted ray
glass
i2
r2
Refracted ray
air
water
i1
r1
Incident ray
glass
i2
r2
Refracted ray
Refracted ray
Complete these ray diagrams.
air
glass glass
water
Complete these ray diagrams.
airwater
glassair
The incident ray, the refracted ray and the normal at the point of incidence all lie in the same plane.
For two given media, the ratio sin i ÷ sin r is a constant,
i is the angle of incidence
r is the angle of refraction
i
r
air
water
Incident ray
Refracted ray
normal
Refractive Index, n =
sin i sin r
Snell’s law
The higher the optical density, the greater the refractive index. The greater the refractive index, the greater the
bending of light towards the normal.
air
water
i1
r1
Incident ray
Refracted ray
glass
i2
r2
Refracted ray
air
water
i1
r1
Incident ray
glass
i2
r2
Refracted ray
Refracted ray
If light is incident upon a piece of glass (refractive index 1.52) at an angle of 45o, what is the angle of
refraction?
Given that the refractive index of water is 1.33, calculate the angle of refraction when the incident
ray comes in at 60o to the normal.
60o
r
air
water
Solution n = sin i
sin r
1.33 =sin 60o
sin r
sin r =
sin 60o
1.33
r =40.6o
When light travels from a less dense medium to a
denser medium…
n = sin isin r
i
r
air
water
When light travels from a denser medium to a less
dense medium…
n = sin rsin i
i
rair
water
The figure shows light travelling from water into the air. The ray is incident upon the boundary at 30o. What is the angle of
refraction if the refractive index of water is 1.33?
30o
rair
water
Solution
n sin rsin i=
1.33
sin 30o
sin r=
sin r=
1.33
sin 30o
r =
41.9o
Other ways of calculating the refractive index…
Refractive index, n =
Speed of light in vacuum / air
Speed of light in medium
=
c
v
Take a look at this...
The critical angle c is the angle of incidence in the optically denser medium for which the angle of refraction is 90o.
When i = c r = 90o
This is called TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION.
When i > critical angle, the ray gets reflected internally.
For TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION to take place:
The light ray must travel from an optically denser medium towards a less dense one.
The angle of incidence must be greater than the critical angle.
Direction of light path
i
How do we calculate the critical angle?
We know that r = 90o…
We know that when light travels from a less
dense medium to a denser medium
Refractive Index, n =
sin r
sin i
We know that when light travels from a denser medium to a less dense medium
Refractive Index, n =
sin r
sin i
How do we calculate the critical angle?
We know that r = 90o…
Refractive Index, n =
sin r
sin i
n =sin csin 90o
=sin c
1
How do we calculate the critical angle?
n= sin c
= c
1
sin-1
n
1
Medium:Refractive Index:
Critical Angle:=c sin-1
n
1
Glass
1.50
= sin-1
1.50
1
= 41.8o
Medium:Refractive Index:
Critical Angle:=c sin-1
n
1
Water
1.33
= sin-1
1.33
1
= 48.8o
Medium:Refractive Index:
Critical Angle:=c sin-1
n
1
Diamond
2.42
= sin-1
2.42
1
= 24.4o
Refraction by a prism
The prism refracts each colour by a different amount.
DISPERSION OF LIGHT
Total Internal Reflection in Prisms
Total Internal Reflection in Prisms
Optical fibres are
very thin, flexible rods made of special
glass or transparent plastic.
Inside a fibre, light travels along by total reflection.
Refractions in real life
The archer fish has adapted to shoot water at insects outside of the water.
It is able to deal with the refraction between the air and water and accurately shoot water at the insects!
Bears hunting for fish experience a similar problem.
They see the fish beneath the water, but must learn that they are not actually where they appear to be!
MIRAGES
Mirages occur on very hot days because the density of the air changes due to the temperature.
This can often fool people lost in deserts who are tricked into thinking there is water in the distance….
ROADWAY MIRAGES - shimmering pools of water seem to cover the roadway far ahead.
Mirages from the Latin mirare, meaning "to look at, to wonder at", are natural optical phenomena - they are real, objective events, that only cause problems for us when we interpret them incorrectly.
They are formed by the bending, or refracting of light rays through layers of air of differing temperatures.
There are two kinds - inferior and superior; inferior mirages show the false image below the real object, superior mirages show it above. The classic roadway mirage is an inferior mirage - a projection of, e.g. the sky onto hot tar, giving a shimmering wet appearance.
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